A small Iraqi border town churns out weightlifting champions
Weightlifters in Badra are acutely aware that they are upholding a tradition
While some towns in Iraq are known for producing oil or textiles, Badra boasts its own special conveyer belt — churning out weightlifting champions.
In cafes along the main road dissecting the small town, 10km from the border with Iran, chatter rarely veers far from the successes of local lifters.
In the old days, “men measured their performance by lifting cast iron, often spare parts of cars,” said Khudeir Basha, who grew up nearby and became coach of the national weightlifting team.
“In 1974, the youth of Badra decided to take part in the Iraqi championships,” the bespectacled coach recalled, referring to himself and his friends.
The hopefuls headed south to Diwaniya province, where they swept up “all the prizes”, astonishing fellow competitors who had never heard of Badra.
Since then, he said, weightlifting has been synonymous with the town of 15,000, some 200km east of Baghdad.
A weightlifting training centre, set up in 1993 in a Badra high school, is still in operation.
Heavy lifter Salwan Jassim Aboud, who is in the 105kg category, returned from the Asian weightlifting championships in Turkmenistan last year with a silver medal.
The new generation wants to “continue what Badra has launched in the weightlifting field”, the thickset athlete said.
With seemingly little effort, Aboud propelled a barbell from the floor to far above his head, the bar ends sagging slightly under heavy discs. In 2016, he took part in the Olympic Games in Brazil. Ten years previously, his brother Mohammad won silver at a contest in Qatar.
“It’s up to us and the coaches to keep going so Badra remains a factory for champion weightlifters,” said Aboud, who will represent Iraq at the Asian Games in Indonesia this summer.
Lifters here are acutely aware that they are upholding a tradition.
Another medal winner, 28-year-old Ahmad Farouq, said he was “proud to have made this small town Iraq’s capital of weightlifting”, noted for its victories in Asian and Arab competitions. “Big names have been here and we need to protect that identity,” he said.
But despite those successes, the gym is in poor shape.
Paint peeled from the pale green walls, a solitary fan recycled warm air and the upholstery on the leg press had worn away, disgorging yellow foam as if from a putrid wound.
Iraq’s sports authorities are losing interest in Badra and the weightlifting club, coach Basha lamented.